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188,000 evacuated over California dam erosion
Washington: At least 188,000 people were evacuated from several northern California counties after authorities warned an emergency spillway in the country’s tallest dam was in danger of failing and unleashing uncontrolled flood waters on towns below. The erosion prompted concerns that it could endanger the communities living downstream and evacuation orders were made on Sunday for cities and counties near Lake Oroville, which remain in effect, CNN reported. “I would rather be safe than sorry. I would rather have people move out of the area hopefully to safety,” Sheriff Kory Honea said. “A hazardous situation is developing with the Oroville Dam auxiliary spillway. Operation of the auxiliary spillway has led to severe erosion that could lead to a failure of the structure,” the sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page on Sunday night, emphasising that it was not a drill.
California Governor Jerry Brown also issued a state emergency order to help local authorities with the emergency situation and the evacuations. The cities of Oroville, Gridley, Live Oak, Marysville, Wheat Land, Yuba City, Plumas Lake and Olivehurst were all under evacuation orders. The order was sent out after engineers discovered a hole that was eroding back towards the top of the spillway. It’s possible that crisis could be averted, however, because the California Department of Water Resources told the sheriff that the erosion “was not advancing as rapidly as we thought.” A plan is currently in place to employ helicopters to drop rocks into a crevice atop the erosion, which would plug the hole, said the sheriff.
As of about 6:30 p.m, about two inches of water was coming over the spillway, which was down significantly from when authorities first issued the evacuation orders, according to the report. Department of Water Resources officials said they expect the flow to soon stop entirely, which will reduce the pace of erosion. “The next several hours will be crucial in determining whether the concrete structure at the head of the auxiliary spillway remains intact and prevents larger, uncontrolled flows,” the Butte county sheriff’s office said in a statement. In an effort to mitigate the situation, the DWR was increasing water releases from the main spillway to 100,000 cubic feet per second in an effort to lessen the amount of water going down the emergency spillway, the sheriff’s office said.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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